Welcome to Chez Cliff!

And here I go!

Escrow closed on my two little houses in Long Beach, CA last Friday.  I’m stoked!  Begging and pleading, I brought my friends over to see it.  The digital camera in my hand was snapping photos while the Southern California sun beat down on me.  And then reality set in.  MY yard was covered in junk.  Baby toys, wood, and some old sofa that has seen more years of California than I have!

Here are my photos.

So there’s two houses.  I plan to live in one and rent out the other.  Of course, there’s a lot of work to be done.  The previous owners of the houses didn’t live there.  And the people who live there now have been doing so for years.  The people in the front house have been there for 7+ years.  The people in the back, four.

So for the moment, the first order of business is to get the houses painted and the front porch redone.  Both must be completed within 3 months.  My deadline.  Benjamin Moore has a great software program that’ll let me change the colors of the houses so I can see what they will look like.  I’ll try to get some posted on the website once I figure out how to do it.

As far as the sofa goes, apparently some tenant in the back house
wanted to sit outside and enjoy his lemonade during the evenings.  When
he moved out, he left the couch which no one has used.  Or gotten rid
of.  How in the world to people live like this?

A hissing noise from the front grabbed my attention.  Thinking some large, multi-legged creature with fangs was waiting to attack me, I carefully made my way under the bushes in the front.  I discovered the hissing was not from some large monster but from a hose which had been left on.  Like some grumpy slumlord, I immediately yelled "I’m paying for this water!"  And I shut it off.

Hey, even Donald Trump had to start somewhere.

So the paperwork is in.

I guess this is all the preliminary paperwork that is required to buy a home in California.  Apparently, the lawyers have been busy.

For every disclaimer that I read and sign, there’s another page that goes with it that I must sign that states I actually received the disclaimer.  And this is about stupid stuff.  One disclaimer I had to sign was that the seller didn’t know if there was lead paint in the house.  It listed all the hazards associated with lead based paint.  The Real Estate Agent summed it up like this.

"Don’t eat the paint."

Wise words.

I had to sign that disclaimer.  Then another piece of paper, stating that I received the disclaimer.

Ridiculous.

Anyway, I got all the paperwork signed.  The next time I sign paperwork will be at the escrow office for my loan documents.

I can’t wait!!

Since I’ve decided to stop being negative, I’ve noticed a drastic change in my life.  More importantly, my health.

I no longer feel physically and mentally drained in the afternoon.  And I have more energy.  The more positive I am, the better I feel.  No, I’m not walking around and grinning like an idiot.  "Oh, you poured hot coffee in my lap.  I love hot coffee.  It makes me so happy!"

No, not one of those people.

When the conversation around me turns negative, I walk away.  I think people are put out by it but I really don’t care.  I’m not going to suffer just to indulge other people.  Everything in life is a choice.  If they choose to always be negative, so be it.  I choose not to put up with it.

I feel the better for it.  Now how can that be a bad thing?

Cool!

I learned today that the termite inspection report has been complete.  Sections of the house have been tagged for replacement, at the seller’s expense of course.  This is great for me because it means new wood going in.  After the new paint job, it’ll look like one house anyway.  That’s great for me!  So the work has been scheduled and will happen here shortly.

For termites, California law requires the seller to tent the houses and fumigate.  This is also out of pocket for the seller.  I guess you could say that this is part of the closing costs.

Some electrical wiring on the outside of the house was tagged for repair.  That’s being fixed as well.